A Time and a Place
by PocketSizedOwl
Summary: There's a time and place for everything. Unfortunately, in modern times bending doesn't have much of either anymore.
1. Michael

**Extended summary:**

**In modern times, most people aren't even aware that benders exist. Even the benders themselves. Each character's first encounter with bending will be told from their point of view, until they meet this generation's Avatar. What adventures will await them then?**

* * *

I never really cared much for meditation.

But Sifu Dante insists that it is an important thing to do. He used to have half hour meditation as part of Monday and Wednesday classes and encouraged meditation in equal or longer length on your own at home.

I was the younger student Sifu ever agreed to train. As a high-energy kid, I naturally hated sitting still for long periods of time. I just wanted to learn kung fu and do cool-looking forms. I would just skip Monday and Wednesday classes and lie to Sifu about meditating at home.

Naturally, he knew I was lying. He has a way with knowing when people are lying. I've never understood how.

But anyway. For a while, he kept meditation on Mondays and Wednesdays. But once he realized I had become hooked and wouldn't quit because of a little meditation, he started to make it random. We never know what he's going to have us do. I guess it's better this way. We can't pick and choose what parts of the art we want to do and what parts we don't. It's all or nothing. Even though I'm 16 now, I still can't stand it.

"Meditation over. Class is dismissed." Sifu stood and bowed, and we followed in his actions.

As I began to walk out Sifu called me over to him. I hurried over to him. "Yes, Sifu?"

"You have come a very long way over the past 12 years. Please follow me." Sifu led me inside the house and to a closet door. I followed him inside the closet. Inside was a shelf of scrolls. "In every ancient art, there are advanced forms and techniques that can only be handed down from teacher to student." He handed me one of the scrolls. I unrolled it to see drawings of forms.

"These scrolls are very old and very sacred. But I trust you to treat them carefully and to practice and perfect them."

"Thanks... Sifu. But, why are you giving these to me? Why not one of the more advanced students, like David or Antoine?"

"Some people's spirit is just capable of more than others. I see great things in you. Now, go on home. Practice these forms and come in early for class tomorrow so I can work on them with you." He bowed. I bowed.

I got home and immediately fixed myself some dinner. Mom was making food, but I just couldn't wait. I've just been so hungry lately. I finished my soup and went to the garage to practice these new scrolls. I know what you're thinking. The garage isn't typically a relaxing place. But it's the quietest place in the house. It's also usually pretty cool. I've always been hot natured and the cool cement floor always feels good on my feet. I practiced the first form until I had the moves memorized. After an hour in the garage I heard Mom calling me to come eat. Mom's always been a good cook. And I've always loved chili.

"So how was class today?" Mom asked, setting me a bowl on the table.

I sat down and immediately started to dig in. "Pretty good. I always like class. And after class today, Sifu gave me some ancient scrolls with some old forms on them. He told me to practice them tonight and come in early tomorrow."

"Why did he give you the scrolls?" my older sister Kendyl asked walking into the kitchen. She snickered and sat down to start her dinner.

"He said he 'sees great things in me.'" I took in a big spoonful of chili.

"Maybe you'll be the next Karate Kid," Mom giggled.

"Heh. Maybe."

After dinner I went to my room to work on some homework. But I couldn't really concentrate much. I just had the strongest urge to practice my new forms. I forced myself to finish my homework, and then went back to the garage to practice. I practiced well into the night. I got to where I could remember the movements of the first three forms. Then I went back to the first form to make it better. Sifu taught me once to meditate while doing forms. I thought it was weird… but I tried it anyway. It was like a force was guiding me in the right way to do the movements.

The forms were strange. I don't know how do describe it. The first one alone had such variation. It started out soft, then became more strong and aggressive as the movements progressed. I went through this first form four times… then something strange happened. My hand felt very warm, like I was hovering it over a candle flame. My eyes shot open at the strange sensation. I went through the form over and over again, but I couldn't recreate the sensation. I assumed it was just my imagination and went to bed.

When I finally went to bed… it was time to get up. So I left and waited until Mom went to work. Then I went back home and slept through the morning and part of the afternoon. When I got up, I just ate cereal and watched TV for a while. When Kendyl didn't come home after school I assumed she was out with her friends. At least I'll have more time to come up with an excuse for why I wasn't at school so she won't tell Mom.

"I wonder what time Sifu wanted me to come in. He said early… but how early is early?" I got up and got dressed for class. "Two and a half hours until class starts. I guess I can go now." So I did.

When I got to Sifu's house, he welcomed me and led me inside instead of the backyard, where we usually hold class.

"Would you like some tea, Michael?"

"Um, sure. Thanks." I didn't really want tea. But you don't decline tea from Sifu. If he offers you tea, you take it. He has a reason for it.

"This tea will help you relax before we begin on you new forms." He handed me a cup, then sat down beside me sipping from his own.

"Thank you, Sifu." I took a sip. I never really liked tea.

"So tell me, did you practice last night?"

"Definitely. I practiced for hours. I went through the first three until I memorized them, then I worked on the first one a lot. I even did that meditation while doing forms thing you told us to do once." I didn't mean to sound so eager.

"Anything interesting happen?" He sat his cup down.

"Not really. I mean… My hand felt really warm at one point while meditating. But I couldn't get it to do it again, so I just assumed I was imagining it." I knew he would think I was crazy. But you don't keep secrets from Sifu.

Sifu just nodded then picked up his cup to take another sip. I tried to finish my tea as quickly as possible so I didn't have to taste it longer than I did. Don't get me wrong. Sifu makes wonderful tea. I just don't like tea. I sat my empty cup down on the table.

"Lets go to the backyard, then." Sifu took my teacup and put it in the sink along with his. Then we walked outside. "Show me how you are doing on the first form."

I nodded and began. I went kind of slowly so I could try to make them as less sloppy as possible. When I finished, I looked at Sifu.

"Now. Meditate."

"While doing the form?"

"Yes."

I got in my horse stance and began to calm down and breath. When I felt like I was as calm as I could get and still move, I began. I went through the form a few times. During the second time I felt that force guiding me again.

"Stop."

I stopped. My eyes shot open. _Crap. What did I do wrong?_

"Now, do the form without meditating, but just as if you were."

I began the form. He didn't say anything for the first few movements, so I thought I was doing well.

"Put all of your strength into each move. Treat each step as if it were the last of the form. Yes. Good. More power. More."

I tried as hard as I could. I would be exhausted after this; I just knew it.

"Give it all you've got on the last move!"

"HA!" I finished. And something even more strange happened than before.


	2. Simon

I always knew I was different.

Well, maybe different isn't the right word. Strange. Freaky. Yeah... Those are the right words.

When I was younger, I didn't learn to swim like everyone else. I didn't know how, but I just kind of... controlled the water around me. It happened first when I fell into the water as a toddler. No one bothered to teach me how to swim yet, so I freaked out. After a few seconds of flailing around, I kind of "flailed" the water around me to bring me back to the surface. My friends were terrified. They weren't my friends after that.

My biological dad died in combat while I was still in the womb. But my mom remarried when I was three, so I never really counted myself as not having a dad because I can't remember before that. He was an OK dad. He tried his best to spend time with me when I was younger teaching me how to fish and hunt using a bow and arrow and traps instead of guns. But when I was 12 he turned to alcohol. He was never really abusive. I just wanted to sew his fucking mouth shut.

Much to my mother's dismay, I dropped out of school the day I turned 16. I started working at a factory as clean-up crew the day after that. A few days after I started working, I was jumped on my way home. I had some fighting experience getting into small fights at school occasionally. With a name like Simon, it was inevitable. But they were better. I started taking boxing classes. After about a year of that, my teacher approached me after class one day. He said he had a friend who was interested in me. He wanted to teach me some other things. I thought maybe he was into like krav maga or some shit like that. But when I met him, he said he was a Tai Chi master. I'd never heard of it, so I gave him a chance.

It was the complete opposite of what I expected. It was soft and slow. Not a lot of striking. It was mostly a relaxation thing. I thought it was a waste of time, but then I realized I could use it. I was pretty stressed all the time and boxing didn't get it all out. I'd use boxing to get out frustration and work up strength, then do Tai Chi to calm down. But that was only at first. I soon became hooked. I quit taking boxing and focused solely on Tai Chi. I never told anyone. I assumed they'd think I was weak. I needed to maintain a tough persona. It's who I am.

But I was still very close with Zhi, my teacher. I was a different person around him. I told him everything that made me angry and happy. I told him when there was a girl I was interested in. He never complained. He just listened. He also taught me Chinese. I got pretty good pretty fast.

My mother soon became sick. She got cancer, but it was too late to do anything about it. I decided to show my mother some of the Tai Chi I'd been learning. Strangely, I think it was the most proud of my she'd ever been. She died the next morning

The alcohol soon made me father sick of me. On the 18th birthday, he told me I needed to find a place of my own. I told Zhi about the problem, and he offered for me to stay with him. I told him I was already looking for apartments, but he insisted.

After I'd gotten a chance to get used to Zhi's home, he gave me some scrolls. They felt old and I was afraid to touch them. But he told me to read them. I thought he was giving me some old story to read. It was about this world of people who control elements. You know, like fire, water, earth, and air. Each person could control one, and some people couldn't at all. But there was one person who control all four and was re-born into a different body when they died. I asked Zhi who wrote these scrolls.

"No one really known who originally wrote them. But Fire Lord Zuko re-wrote them during his reign."

"Please don't mess with me, Zhi."

"I'm not messing with you." He sounded offended. "Why would I do that?"

"I'm sorry. It's just... this stuff doesn't happen. This kind of things only happens in stories. It's not real."

"Then welcome to the story."

I didn't really know what he meant.

"Come, Simon. I want to show you where I practice at home." He got up and walked outside without looking to see if I was following.

I stared after him for a few seconds, but eventually got up to follow him. I followed him into the woods behind his house. The forest was beautiful. After going for about half an hour, we reached a lake.

"This is where I spend a lot of my time."

"It's nice." I stared at the water.

"Come, Simon. Let's do some Tai Chi."

I nodded. We started with the most basic movements. I closed my eyes and just did as I knew to do. After what felt like maybe fifteen minutes, I opened my eyes to see if we were still together. But what I found instead was a strand of water being moved around between my hands and also one between Zhi's hands. I froze and the water fell. But Zhi kept going. He kept his eyes on me as he did all of his movements. I cautiously picked back up where he was. The water didn't return to my hands.

"You have to make it." Zhi said calmly.

I breathed deeply and tried to make the water come back, but I couldn't. Zhi sighed and returned his strip of water to the lake.

"Follow my lead." Zhi just did basic back and forth motions. The tide started moving in and out.

I breathed in and followed his movements. Soon, the whole lake was moving back and forth. We started making our motions more dynamic and soon created a wave. It was getting bigger and bigger and I got scared. Ha. Me. Scared. I let go of the water and Zho eased it back into place.

"You are a waterbender. Get used to it."

I then followed him back to his house.


	3. Saya

I'm special.

I've always known I was. Most people will just say they're unique or different. But I know I'm special and I want others to know, too. I've always liked to draw. I mostly draw still-life and animals, but sometimes I draw people. I like to make up funny situations and draw my own made-up characters enacting it. I crack myself up.

I've also always loved nature. There's a forest behind my house. There's a creek if you walk for fifteen to twenty minutes and a lake if you walk for twenty-five. At the widest part of the creek there are rocks I like to sit on and sleep, draw, listen to music. Sometimes if I stay really still, animals will come to the creek and drink water and they might stay long enough for me to get a quick sketch. Sometimes I finish them, sometimes I don't. If I come inside for dinner (sometimes I just pack a dinner and sleep near the creek), my parents like to see the drawings I did. They've always been really supportive of me. They're pretty special too, so they understand me.

Well, as much as they can. See, I found out something even more special about me one day. But I think you need to know a little of what led up to it or else you won't believe me at all.

When I was 13, I was at the creek one day just listening to the water, hoping an animal would come up to the creek to drink. But I fell asleep. When I woke up, there was a woman meditating on a rock across the creek from me. She looked so peaceful. I needed to draw her. I was in the forest drawing this woman until it got too dark for me to see my paper. I got my flashlight out of my bag and left for the house. After I finished my dinner, I went to my room to finish the drawing. I was pretty proud of it.

I went down to the creek the next day and the woman was already (or still) there. I sat and watched her for a while. A few birds came by and sat for a pretty good while, so I got a decent sketch of them. When they left, I finished the drawing and then watched the woman again. I'd never meditated before, but I decided I'd give it a shot. I mean, she just looked so peaceful. I tried my best to get in the same position as her, closed my eyes, and tried to meditate. I didn't really know what people did exactly to meditate, but I just tried to relax.

I fell asleep.

When I woke up it was dark. I searched in my bag for a flashlight but couldn't find it. I didn't pack anything to sleep in the forest tonight.

"Missing something?" the woman's voice made me jump. I'd forgotten she was there.

"Oh. I guess I forgot to bring a flashlight. I have a 15 minute walk back to my house and I can't see without light."

She looked like she was thinking. "Come with me. My house is close by."

"Thank you." I grinned and jumped across the creek next to her. She lit a lantern and started walking towards the lake just outside the forest.

"I have a phone so you can call your parents."

"Cool."

"I hope you like stew."

"I just like food."

She chuckled. "What is your name?"

"Saya. What about you?"

"Meiling."

"Pretty."

"Thank you. Your name has a nice sound as well."

Her house was a nice cabin on the lake. When we walked inside, Meiling flipped on the light (I was hoping she was going to use more lanterns, but oh well). "The phone is in the kitchen."

"Hi Mom! Yeah, I'm staying the night with a friend... Mhm... I drew some birds... Alright. See you tomorrow."

"Your mother seems pretty...relaxed."

"Yeah, both my parents are. They're how I got my go-with-the-flow personality." I grinned.

Meiling poured us both a bowl a stew and set them down at the table.

"So have you lived here long?" I asked taking a bite of stew. "I've never seen you before."

"Not really. I moved here about a month ago. I have a friend who lives in town and he asked me to move around here. He teaches kung fu and wanted to know if I would like to teach with him. I'm not really interested in talking on many students, but I agreed to come move here because we hadn't seen each other in so long."

"You know Kung Fu? That's so cool!"

"Haha. I suppose."

"So why don't you want to teach anyone?" I wanted her to teach me, but I didn't want to ask yet.

"I didn't say I didn't want to teach anyone. I just prefer to take on one or two special students."

"What would someone have to do to be one of those special students?"

"I don't know yet. I guess I'll know when I see them." She smiled and we ate the rest of the meal in silence.

I went home the next day instead of staying in the forest for a while. I figured I should since I hadn't told anyone I wasn't coming home. Plus we had recently gotten a new pet cat-owl and I wanted to spend some time with it. "Mom, I'm home!"

"Oh, good. I was just about to go to town to get some more groceries, would you like to come with me?"

"Sure."

So we went to the market. I met some strange kids a few years younger than me. Their names were Da Wei and Zhen; they were fraternal twins. I've always been a friendly person, so I invited them to hang out with me, but they said they needed to get back to their Sifu. They seemed very strange. Ha. Me calling someone strange. There's a first for everything!

I spent the rest of the day playing with our cat-owl. It was so freaking cute. I named it Fluffy.

The next day, I went back to the forest, hoping Meiling was on the rock again. And she was. I said hello to her, even though I knew she wasn't paying attention to me because she was meditating. After an hour of no animals staying long enough at the creek, I decided to try meditating again. I got in the position Meiling was in, closed my eyes, and relaxed. I wasn't really sure if I was asleep or not, but when I woke up it was probably some time around 4 pm. I yawned and blinked a few times. I looked across the creek to see if Meiling was still here. I didn't see her at first, but then I noticed movement over to the side. I looked over and saw her doing some weird things. I guessed they were just movements from Kung Fu that she liked. At one point, she stopped, and I clapped.

Meiling looked at me and smiled, then started on more movements. I took her smiling as an invitation to join in. Not because I actually thought it was, I just wanted to try. I felt really cool, but I know I probably looked terrible. She did these movements for like two hours, and I followed her the whole time. Maybe if I showed commitment, she would let me be one of her special students.

It started to get dark, so I told Meiling goodnight and went home. After dinner, I tried to do some of the movements I remembered from earlier. I know I probably mixed some of them up, but they're just so fun to do. Over the next few months whenever I went to the forests, Meiling was there. She always meditated and then did movements. And I always did them with her.

The day after my birthday, I came down to the forest with two pieces of my birthday cake.

"Haha, thank you, Saya." Meiling accepted her cake and we ate on the rocks. "So how old are you now?"

"Fourteen."

"That's a nice age."

"I hope so." We finished our cake and I put the plates back in my bag.

After that, we meditated. Well, Meiling meditated while I took a nap. When I woke up, she was doing more movements. I was about to get up and do them with her, but I saw something strange. Rocks were moving around. They were breaking and going back and forth. And Meiling was making shapes out of some rocks she pulled out of the ground. I was going to say something or react in some way, but I got kind of scared and just pretended I was sleeping again. And then I actually fell back asleep. When I woke back up, she was gone and it was dark.

When I came the next day, Meiling was sitting on her usually rock, but not meditating.

"Hello Saya."

"Hi. What's up?"

"I've seen you following me while I do my forms over the past few months, and I have to say that you'd gotten pretty decent. And I admire your commitment."

_Oh boy._

"I would like you to do a form with me." She stood up and motion for me to come over near her. "It's a very simple form. And since it's so simple, I want you to put all the strength and power into each movement as you can."

Meiling began on her _form. _She looked strong even though she wasn't moving much yet. I followed her, trying as hard as I could to look as cool as her. We finished with the first form and began on another a little bit more difficult. I started feeling like I looked cooler doing it. Once we got on the fifth form, Meiling nodded at me. I didn't know what it was for, but very soon, Meiling did that thing again where she made rocks come up out of the ground. I was about to ask her how she was doing it, but when I turn to look at her, she wasn't doing anything. It was me! I always knew I was special.

"Totally cool!"


End file.
